Dental Care

Dental disease is incredibly common among pets. In fact, pets over the age of three have a 50/50 chance of suffering from dental disease. Other than making eating difficult, dental disease can cause a significant amount of pain and suffering for your dog or cat. 

Prevent Dental Problems From Happening

As your pet’s veterinarian, our goal is to stop dental problems from developing. To do this, we work to improve your pet’s dental hygiene. During their routine exam, we will look for tartar, periodontal disease, gingivitis, and plaque. 

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Depending on the issue, we may be able to treat it through a scale and polish or other techniques. In severe cases, we can extract the tooth. We can use an x-ray to see the extent of the tooth decay. 

How Can I Tell If My Pet Has Poor Dental Hygiene? 

Without proper dental care, dogs and cats can develop infections and bad breath. They may also lose teeth or suffer from incredible amounts of pain. While these symptoms are more likely to occur in older animals, they can still affect young pets as well.

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You can tell if your pet has a dental problem by looking for some common side effects. Other than loose teeth and bad breath, pay attention to eating difficulties. Your pet may have dental issues if they have a sore mouth or suffer from excessive drooling.

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Sometimes, you can visually see yellow or brown tartar on your pet’s teeth. They may also have bleeding gums. If the dental disease is causing pain, your pet may also rub the affected teeth or paw at its mouth.

What Happens During a Dental Exam? 

During a dental exam, the veterinarian will look for the following problems. 

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• Loose teeth.
• Bad breath.
• Chewing issues. 
• Drooling.
• Bleeding and swelling in or around the mouth. 
• Pain in and around the mouth. 
• Discolored teeth and tartar. 
• Extra teeth. 
• Broken teeth. 
• Retained baby teeth.

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Once the veterinarian finds a problem, there are different solutions available for treating it. For instance, they can perform a dental cleaning to remove plaque. Tooth extractions can fix broken teeth, retained baby teeth, or extra teeth. 

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Because dental procedures can be stressful for pets, your pet may be given anesthesia. This medication prevents pets from feeling pain. They will also be unaware of the procedure. 

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After the procedure, your vet may prescribe antibiotics to prevent an infection. Your dog or cat may receive pain medications to help them heal. The vet will also discuss ways you can help your furry family member recover. 

How Often Does My Pet Need Dental Exams? 

In general, we recommend that dogs and cats get a dental exam once per year. This exam can occur during the pet’s annual check-up. Smaller dog breeds, cats on wet food diets, and other special circumstances may require more frequent dental exams.

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In between exams, you can help reduce plaque and tartar by brushing your pet’s teeth. While daily brushing is best, brushing a couple of times each week can still be helpful. Often, it is easier to brush a pet’s teeth if you get them used to it at an early age.